His Excellency Nicolas Grau, Minister of Economy, Development and Tourism of the Republic of Chile, said that the volume of investments in Chile in the UAE reached about 2 billion dollars in 2023, as the UAE is working on several projects that are being developed in various fields. With the Chilean Foreign Investment Promotion Agency. “Invest Chile” To increase the development of trade and investment relations.
In a statement to the Emirates News Agency WAM, His Excellency added that the two countries are capable of developing bilateral economic relations, which will benefit the increase in the volume of direct investment and trade exchange between the two countries and the creation of promising opportunities in various sectors. As the UAE and Chile have different commercial capacities and experiences, we are keen to advance bilateral economic relations and achieve sustainable development in various fields through the exchange of experience and practices..
He pointed out that Chile received 23 billion dollars in foreign direct investment by the end of last year 2023, and explained that this growth is the highest since 2014..
He said that the UAE has some important investments in Chile, and through our current visit we want to discuss ways to improve cooperation, and through our meetings with the Emirati and Chilean business community, we have seen the extent of their interest in mining, copper and mining. technological sectors, in addition to water desalination, food production and energy.“.
His Excellency expressed his interest in cooperating with the UAE in the field of water desalination, since Chile is a mining country that produces large quantities of copper, he explained his efforts to cooperate with the UAE to make copper production greener, in addition to increasing investments. in renewable sources, since two thirds of Chile’s energy production comes from renewable sources..
The Minister of Economy of Chile praised the UAE’s leadership in the field of renewable energy, and expressed the desire to benefit from the country’s expertise in the green economy sector, highlighting that Chile has many natural resources that allow it to depend on renewable energy sources. , since environmentally friendly energy represents around 50% of the total production, most of it from wind, solar and hydroelectric energy..
His Excellency Nicholas Grau said that Chile is a leading technology center for Latin America, which is currently building the first submarine cable at the southern tip of Chile to Australia, and this connection helps greatly improve the world’s digital flexibility. the infrastructure.
In this context, His Excellency asked to explore cooperation opportunities with the UAE in the sector of advanced technologies and the development of digital infrastructure, and said that the UAE’s participation in this process will significantly increase the advantages that connections will provide, in addition to the exchange of experiences. the field of optical fiber and communications, in addition to investing in data centers..
His Excellency noted the role of start-up companies in strengthening the economic relations between the two countries, and emphasized that Chile has a strong environment that supports start-up companies and accelerates their business growth, supported by the program. “Chile Startup” Which was launched about 15 years ago.
In this context, he said: “The UAE has a great ability and capacity to invest in emerging companies in Chile, and this can be a qualitative opportunity to work to provide more financial opportunities to advance the ideas we have in these emerging companies.”“.
